The AIF Project

Alfred Henry NICHOLSON

Regimental number6069
Place of birthNorth Sydney, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationCarpenter
AddressWest and Dawson Streets, North Sydneuy, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation31
Height5' 6"
Weight126 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Helen Nicholson, West and Dawson Streets, North Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date4 August 1916
Place of enlistmentMoore Park, New South Wales
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name21st Battalion, 17th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/38/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A19 Afric on 3 November 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll21st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 4 May 1917
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
94
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 3 November 1916; disembarked Plymouth, England, 9 January 1917.

Found guilty, 24 January 1917, of (1) being absent without leave, midnight, 22 January, to 1.30 pm, 23 January 1917; (2) neglecting to obey Standing Orders, viz. out of bounds without a pass: awarded forfeitute of 3 days' pay; total forfeiture: 4 days' pay.

Proceeded overseas to France, 28 March 1917; joined 21st Bn, in the field, 1 April 1917.

Killed in action, 4 May 1917.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, NICHOLSON Alfred Henry
Red Cross File No 2000804

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